04/01/2005Transgender Issues is Topic of Lecture at Hudson Valley

He was awarded the United States Air Force Accommodation Medal for his service in the Vietnam War. He received the Navy Expeditionary Medal and the Navy Good Conduct Medal while serving a second military career as a submariner. Today, he is a "she."

Cheryl Ann Costa crossed the boundary of gender when she transitioned from male to female in the mid-1980s. She will speak about her life at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5, in Hudson Valley Community College's Bulmer Telecommunications Center Auditorium. Admission is free.

Costa works professionally as a network security engineer but she has worn many hats in her life: in addition to her military service, Costa has been a playwright, a Buddhist nun and a talk radio host.

She has shared her story for nearly 20 years, and has been a guest on CNN's Larry King Live and Entertainment Tonight. Her story also has been featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including the Washington Post, London Times and Saudi Gazette.

Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers more than 60 degree and certificate programs in four academic divisions: Liberal Arts and Sciences; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Sciences; and Business; as well as programs run through the Educational Opportunity Center offering certification programs in workforce and academic preparation. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, it has an enrollment of more than 12,000 students, and it is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and worker retraining. Hudson Valley has nearly 60,000 alumni.